Joseph Conrad was born Teodor Józef Konrad Nalecz Korzeniowski near Berdichev, Poland, on December 3, 1857. His father was an idealista poet, translator of Shakespeare, and Polish patriot whose political activities prompted the family's exile to northern Russia in 1862. His mother, who came from an influential family of landowners, died of the Siberian cold when Joseph was eight years old. His father died four years later and a well-to-do uncle Tadeusz Bobrowski took charge of the 12-year-old boy, returning him to Poland. Conrad attended St Anne school in Kraków for five years and as a leaving present his uncle paid for him to go on a tour of Europe. In Venice he saw the sea for the first time and it made a considerable impression on him. After the completion of his formal education, Conrad remained an avid reader, culling his impressive knowledge of literature from works written in Russian, French, and English. ...